Edited by Bill Berkson. Published as a tribute to Frank O'Hara after his death. 46 illustrations by Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg and 24 other eminent artists. 4to, consisting of 55 separate folded folio leaves, printed one side only in black and/or brown, laid into a two-part natural cloth folder and matching cloth slipcase with mounted paper title. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1967. Limited first edition -- One of 2500 numbered copies. Frank O'Hara began working at the front desk of The Museum of Modern Art in order to see the exhibitions as often as possible. During his lunch breaks he wrote poetry, sometimes pausing mid-meal to pen his seemingly effortless, spontaneous verses, which were stitched together from the events and sentiments of his daily life. These writings made him into one of the most important American poets of his generation. Eventually, he became an Associate Curator--even though he had no formal art training. Frank O'Hara: In Memory of My Feelings explores a key period in modern art, and highlights 30 artists who collaborated with O'Hara to produce "poem-paintings"--a single work of art paired with a single poem. The artists included Nell Blaine, Norman Bluhm, Joe Brainard, John Button, Giorgio Cavallon, Allan D'Arcangelo, Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, Niki de Saint Phalle, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Michael Goldberg, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Al Held, Jasper Johns, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Robert Nakian, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and Jane Wilson.

I was fortunate enough to get a copy of the first edition of this, still at the original price, when I was in college.

It's a wonderful selection of thirty of O'Hara's best, and best-known, poems, each of which is illustrated by sweet prints in sepia and/or black by visual artists who were active in New York City in the mid-1960s. Some of these artists are not so well known these days, but few of the artists from that time and place who went on to become famous are missing. Artists include: Joe Brainard, Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, Niki de Saint Phalle, Helen Frankenthaler, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Al Held, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Lee Krassner, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and about a dozen more.

The original, with unbound sheets collected in a slipcase as a memorial for O'Hara, who died at the age of 40, is a gorgeous and unusual museum publication, especially for the late 1960s. The more recent reprint is still pretty great despite being published in a more traditional bound format. ( )